If you are looking for a complete guide on steroid abuse, Steroid abuse (www.steroid-abuse.org/) can provide invaluable insights to you. This site is aimed at educating bodybuilders and athletes of all levels about steroids and steroid abuse.

It is important to note here that steroid abuse can happen when steroids are used for improving the level of performance or appearance by athletes and body builders.

From Medicalnewstoday.com:

To isolate the specific sports that show the most prevalent use of steroids and steroid- abuse, bodybuilders are most likely to participate in steroid abuse. As many people like the physical results they see when they use steroids, it can easily turn into steroid abuse (www.steroid-abuse.org/).

Many different factors are leading up to Steroid abuse, Steroids are, for the most part, illegal in United States. Another good news is that Steroids have been approved for medical use either as oral, topical or topical or intravenous treatments.

Studies even suggest that steroid abuse is high among adolescents, starting as young as eighth grade. Adolescents who participate in steroid abuse often use them to help them in their sports activities. Furthermore, steroid abuse is more prevalent in adolescents who participate in other risky behaviors such as drinking and driving and using other drugs. While estimates also show that many adults are also guilty of steroid abuse, it’s not clear the percentages of adults who actually use them.

Other studies show that steroid abuse is more prevalent among males than females (of any age) but that more and more females are beginning to use steroids, even to the point of steroid abuse. To isolate the specific sports that show the most prevalent use of steroids and steroid abuse, bodybuilders are most likely to participate in steroid abuse. In fact, the rate of steroid abuse among bodybuilders is thought to be quite high. Steroid abuse in other sports is there, but the prevalence varies greatly based on the sport and the individual.

Abuse of steroids is presently higher in males than females and a majority of steroid abusers are young adults.

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According to researchers from the Yale School of Medicine, people making use of anabolic steroids for muscle building can, inadvertently, destroy their brain cells in a big way.

It was found by the researchers that steroids could result in elevated levels of testosterone that can result in damage to the nerve cells.

From Medicalnewstoday.com:

Hyperexcitability, a condition not uncommon among bodybuilders who become aggressive and even suicidal, may occur as a result of steroid use, suggest the researchers.

Professor Barbara Ehrlich, head of the research team, said “Next time a muscle-bound guy in a sports car cuts you off on the highway, don’t get mad, just take a deep breath and realise that it might not be his fault.”

The researchers found that apoptosis was triggered when cultured nerve cells were exposed to testosterone. Apoptosis is a form of “cell suicide” in which damaged cells eliminate themselves with less harm to their neighbors – in other words ‘programmed cell death’. This process has been linked to such diseases as Alzheimer’s and Hutington’s disease.

Results of this study appeared in an issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

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The immune system can protect the body from many diseases besides destroying invading microbes with a swarm of attacking cells. But this system can go haywire for no apparent reason wreaking havoc.

The immune system attacks the inner ear, which is home to delicate structures allowing us to hear, in many people. Some of the affected individuals can get relief with steroids, while many others are left to cope with partial or total deafness without knowing what caused it.

From Medicalnewstoday.com:

The U-M team has developed a monoclonal antibody, called KHRI-3, that attaches to IESCA in the inner ear, and can be detected in living animal systems and cell cultures. It has allowed them to study IESCA’s role in hearing loss in animal models, and show that damage to the inner ear caused by antibodies to IESCA can destroy hearing. The KHRI-3 antibody creates a staining pattern that resembles a line of tiny wine glasses when it binds to IESCA in the organs of Corti of guinea pigs.

The U-M has patent applications pending in the U.S. and abroad pertaining to KHRI-3, IESCA and AISNHL. The University, Carey and several colleagues stand to profit if tests or treatments based on these patents are developed. The development of a clinical test for patient antibody to IESCA will take time, Carey says.

In previous papers, Carey and his colleagues have shown that IESCA has about the same molecular weight as – but is distinct from – a protein that serves as the basis for a currently available commercial AISNHL test. That test, based on a protein-separation test known as Western blot, is known to give accurate results only some of the time. The U-M team reported in previous paper in the Journal of Neuroscience that IESCA is identical to a protein called CTL2, or choline transport-like protein 2.

This research based at the University of Michigan’s Kresge Hearing Research Institute could help patients ascertain quickly if they can benefit from steroids or not, or if they can live without harsh side effects of the drugs.

Tags: IESCA, KHRI-3, steroids

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Sinus surgery using an endoscope is becoming increasingly common for managing chronic sinus disease among Medicare beneficiaries, as per a report in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Chronic rhinosinusitis is characterized by symptoms that include congestion, runny nose, headache, facial pressure, and loss of smell.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Chronic rhinosinusitis is characterized by infection and inflammation of the sinus cavities and nose that lasts longer than three months, according to background information in the article. Symptoms include congestion, runny nose, headache, facial pressure and loss of smell. “Mainstays of medical management for sinusitis include antibiotic therapy, systemic and topical intranasal steroids and nasal saline irrigations,” the authors write. “A subset of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis in whom medical management fails undergo surgery, sometimes repeatedly, for treatment of their disease.”

Endoscopic sinus surgery, a minimally invasive technique, was introduced in the United States in 1985, the authors note. To examine trends in rates of the procedure, Giridhar Venkatraman, M.D., M.B.A., of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H., and colleagues studied a sample of Medicare beneficiaries age 65 to 99.

The involved authors remarked that endoscopic sinus surgery is increasingly becoming the mainstay of chronic rhinosinusitis management in the Medicare population.

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According to a recently concluded research, minimally invasive surgery is a safe and effective therapy in terms of alleviating pain and pressure of sinusitis for geriatric patients who find no relief with medication alone.

Dr. Stilianos E. Kountakis, otolaryngologist, vice chair of the Medical College of Georgia Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and a principal author on the study published in the December issue of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, said the finding suggest that minimally invasive surgery is a surgical technique not as invasive as others and still effective for facilitating good outcomes.

From News-medical.net:

“We thought that maybe the endoscopic sinus surgery wouldn’t be as effective because of the decreased efficiency of the sinuses that naturally occurs with age, but that wasn’t the case. We thought maybe other medical problems, might make surgery less safe and effective, but that wasn’t the case either,” he says.

Instead they found 64 percent improvement in symptoms at three months, 73 percent improvement at six months and 75 percent improvement at 12 months, based on patient reports of their symptoms as well as physical exams.

Medical therapy, including inflammation-reducing steroids, mucus thinners and salt-water douches to moisturize and clean the sinuses, is always the first approach to treatment, Dr. Kountakis says. But after about a month, if the condition is no better, a surgical approach through the nose can be used to remove obstructions and/or widen sinus passages. Typically patients will continue to need some type of medicine following surgery to help keep their condition in check.

Dr. Kountakis said that patients over the age of 60 and who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery reported improvement in symptoms over the year following surgery, had few minor complications, and no major complications.

Tags: sinus surgery, sinusitis, steroids

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High levels of the immunosuppressant cyclosporine favor tumor recurrence as per a study on the incidence of liver cancer. The study was also able to identify blood levels of the drug that must not exceed besides identifying that low cyclosporine levels have no effect on the rejection rates.

The study results appeared in an issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS).

From News-medical.net:

Led by Marco Vivarelli of the department of surgery and transplantation at the University of Bologna, Italy, the study examined 70 patients who took cyclosporine as the main immunosuppressant following liver transplants between 1991 and 2002. The cyclosporine dosage was determined by the clinician in charge based on clinical and biochemical indications, but without regard to blood levels achieved by the drug after it was administered. HCC recurred in 7 of the patients between 2 and 40 months after transplant. The researchers found that the absence of recurrence was significantly related to blood levels of cyclosporine, which were higher in patients whose tumors recurred. Other factors, such as recipient sex, underlying liver disease, or the use of cyclosporine with other immunosuppressants or steroids did not affect tumor recurrence.

The journal was published on behalf of the societies by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and is available online via Wiley InterScience.

Tags: cyclosporine, immunosuppressants, steroids

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Rosiglitazone, the antidiabetes drug, could have the potential to guard kidney function in patients afflicted with a condition known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).

This finding was disclosed in a study appearing in the January 2009 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

From News-Medical.Net:

The investigators studied 11 patients with FSGS whose condition had not responded to previous treatment with steroids and other immunosuppressive drugs. Patients ranged from ages 2 to 28 years. Because a phase I trial is a preliminary study done before an agent’s effectiveness is measured, the researchers focused on determining the safety and appropriate dosing of rosiglitazone in patients enrolled in the study.

Patients receiving rosiglitazone at a dose of three mg/m2 per day for 16 weeks experienced no serious adverse effects, including no cardiovascular complications that have been associated with rosiglitazone in other studies.

The investigators also evaluated patients’ total exposure over time to rosiglitazone - in other words, how much and how long the drug stays in the body. They assessed whether certain clinical parameters such as urinary protein excretion, blood levels of the protein albumin, and kidney filtration rate might affect the drug’s activity. They also looked to see if demographic factors including age, pubertal status, and body surface area had any effects. Serum albumin and kidney filtration had significant effects on the body’s exposure to rosiglitazone. Other clinical parameters and demographic factors did not seem to play a role.

The authors said that the study results indicate that rosiglitazone warrants further investigation for the treatment of FSGS and the dose of 3 mg/m2 per day or a higher dose should be examined in later-stage studies.

Tags: FSGS, Rosiglitazone, steroids

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Glucocorticoids, the primary controller medication for asthma, are 40 percent less effective in obese and overweight asthma patients than in asthmatic patients with normal weight. This finding was disclosed by researchers at National Jewish Health.

The study, by Associate Professor of Medicine E. Rand Sutherland, MD, MPH and his colleagues at National Jewish Health, appeared in an issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

From Medicalnewstoday.com:

The study at National Jewish Health sought to understand why glucocorticoids, commonly called steroids, might be less effective in overweight and obese asthma patients. Dr. Sutherland and his colleagues enrolled 45 nonsmoking adults, 33 of whom had asthma, and measured the response of cells in the blood and the lungs to the steroid dexamethasone.

Steroids interfere with inflammatory signaling pathways by raising the level of a molecule known as MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1). When the researchers applied the steroid dexamethasone to cultures of the participants’ blood cells, they found that steroids did not increase MKP-1 as effectively in overweight and obese asthmatics when compared to lean asthmatics. Dexamethasone increased the levels of MKP-1 by 5.27 times in cultured blood cells from lean asthma patients, whereas MKP-1 levels in overweight and obese asthmatics increased by only 3.11 times, a 41 percent smaller response. The heavier a person was the less their cells were likely to respond to dexamethasone. This negative relationship between weight and response to steroids did not occur in participants who did not have asthma.

“Steroids were clearly less effective in overweight and obese asthma patients,” said Dr. Sutherland. “Previous studies have suggested a link between weight and response to steroids in patients, and this study suggests a potential mechanism by which this occurs. It also suggests that future research should be directed specifically to understanding how asthma medications work in overweight and obese asthmatics.

It was remarked that inhaled steroids are still effective in treating overweight and obese asthmatics.

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Withdrawal of certain immunosuppressive drugs after transplantation of the kidney could prolong survival and help in saving a considerable amount of money when compared with keeping patients on these medications for life.

This finding was disclosed in a study that appeared in an issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

From Medicalnewstoday.com:

Sirolimus, in combination with steroids, is currently the only immunosuppressive treatment regimen that is approved for use when calcineurin inhibitors are withdrawn. Therefore, Dr. Earnshaw’s group compared treatments containing sirolimus plus steroids versus treatments that maintained the use of calcineurin inhibitors.

The researchers’ decision-analytic model, using data published in the literature and reported by the US transplant registry, assumed that within the first 12 months following transplant surgery, sirolimus plus steroid therapy is associated with a greater risk of kidney allograft rejection than regimens that continue to use calcineurin inhibitors. Other commonly used regimens include a calcineurin inhibitor such as cyclosporine or tacrolimus, plus mycophenolate mofetil and steroids. In this particular study, it was assumed that in the absence of induction therapy a total of 21.8% of patients taking sirolimus plus steroids experienced acute rejection within one year of transplantation, compared with 19.0% of patients taking cyclosporine plus mycophenolate mofetil and steroids, and 17.1% of patients taking tacrolimus plus mycophenolate mofetil and steroids.

However, it was revealed that overall, treatment with sirolimus plus steroids may be more efficacious and less costly than regimens that continued to use calcineurin inhibitors. Specifically, withdrawal of calcineurin inhibitors may prolong patients’ lives and improve their kidney function.

Funding for this analysis was provided by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Collegeville, PA.

Tags: Sirolimus, steroid therapy, steroids, transplant surgery

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According to a study published recently in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), children suffering from asthma and into physical fitness are more likely to exercise a better control on the disease and improve their quality of life.

The results show aerobic training as an effective option for improving cardiopulmonary fitness and reducing daily use of inhaled steroids in children with asthma.

From Medicalnewstoday.com:

Asthmatic children, even with moderate to severe disease, showed significant improvements in their aerobic capacity after the training program and a reduction in exercise induced-bronchoconstriction, which induces breathlessness and is a characteristic response to exercise present in most patients. Daily doses of inhaled steroids were reduced in trained patients by 52 percent, but remained unchanged or increased in the control (untrained) group. When compared to controls, these children also reported a significant improvement in health-related quality of life.

The authors emphasize that training should be supervised and performed in children properly medicated, and the actual impact of physical training on clinical indicators of disease control is unknown. While these data suggest an adjunct role of physical conditioning on clinical management of patients with more advanced disease, additional research is warranted to discover the contribution of exercise on asthma symptoms and its manifestations.

Celso Carvalho, Ph.D., an author on the study, said physical training can be a management strategy for symptoms of asthma in children.

Tags: aerobic training, Asthma, Inhaled steroids, physical fitness, steroids

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